Four decades later, Medal of Honor for newlywed hero's sacrifice

Spec. Leslie Sabo Jr. and Rose Mary on their wedding day in 1969. He died heroically in Cambodia a few months later.

Story highlights

Spec. Leslie Sabo Jr. was married for one month before shipping out to Vietnam

His bride, Rose, says he "was always goofing around. ... We had a ball together"

Sabo died in a firefight in which he shielded his mates from a grenade, took out a bunker

He will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously from the president on Wednesday

Rose Mary Sabo Brown spent just 30 days with her new husband, Army Spec. Leslie Sabo Jr., before he shipped out to fight in Vietnam. But from that month together in 1969 grew a lifetime of love.

"We got married in September, he got to come home that weekend, and we spent the night together, and he had to go back to Georgia the next day," Rose told CNN. After that, Sabo was off to training before returning home for 30 days that fall.

"We only had that one month together as a married couple," she told CNN. "He left for Vietnam, and I never saw him again."

Brown said her husband was fun-loving. "The Leslie I knew was always goofing around, having fun. We had a ball together, my family adored him. Oh my gosh, my mother keeps saying, 'You couldn't have found anybody better than him to marry my daughter.'"

The people he fought with in the 101st Airborne Division told Rose that he knew when to put aside the goofing and focus on fighting.

"When he was over there, he wore a red bandanna," she said. "And (his fellow soldiers) said when he put that red bandanna around his forehead, he meant business. He was a soldier. And they have a picture of him with that red bandanna on, and the title of it is 'The Soldier.'"

"Even though his platoon was ambushed from all sides by a large enemy force, Sabo charged the enemy position, killing several enemy Soldiers. He then assaulted an enemy flanking force, successfully drawing their fire away from friendly Soldiers and ultimately forcing the enemy to retreat. While securing a re-supply of ammunition, an enemy grenade landed nearby. Specialist Sabo picked it up, threw it, and shielded a wounded comrade with his own body -- absorbing the brunt of the blast and saving his comrade's life.

"Although wounded by the grenade blast, Sabo continued to charge the enemy's bunker. After receiving several serious wounds from automatic weapons fire, he crawled toward the enemy emplacement and, when in position, threw a grenade into the bunker. The resulting explosion silenced the enemy fire, but also ended Specialist Sabo's life."

When Obama presents Rose Mary Sabo Brown with the medal on the pale blue ribbon, it will complete a circle that began 42 years ago right after her husband's death. His unit had recommended him for the Medal of Honor, but somehow it didn't happen. A researcher discovered files about Sabo, and now the earlier oversight has been corrected.